The Northern Ireland Fire Service said that severe gorse fires in the County Fermanagh area over the weekend were started deliberately.

Assistant Chief Fire Officer Colin Lammey said three fires in the Enniskillen and Lisnaskea area were dealt with by fire crews from all over the province.

Hot weather was initially believed to have caused the fires at Lisnaskea Forest, Mullachfad and at Burnascapal Forest.

However, reports from fire crews dealing with the grass and gorse fires said that people were seen lighting fires at the scene.

"We had 12 fire appliances from as far away as Ballymoney and Ballynahinch down in the Enniskillen and Lisnaskea area last night," said Mr Lammey.

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"Our fire crews were reporting back to me here in Lisburn that they could see people in a car setting fire to gorse and mountainside ahead of them as they tried to fight the fire."

Fire fighters battled all day on Sunday to contain the fires.

Staff at headquarters in Lisburn dealt with up to 60 calls an hour.

They normally expect to deal with about 100 calls per day.